


Can't Get Rid of Us So Easily

by buttsbeyondbutts



Series: Ducktales Prequels [2]
Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017), The Three Caballeros (1944)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Male Character, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of Scrooge and Della, Pansexual Character, Polyamory, Pre-Canon, baby ducks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-14 17:26:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15393726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buttsbeyondbutts/pseuds/buttsbeyondbutts
Summary: José and Panchito meet the triplets





	Can't Get Rid of Us So Easily

Donald was going to lose his mind. The boys would not sleep. If one went down, the other two would wake, or poo, or need to be fed. He had lost count of how long he’d been awake. After the 72-hour mark, things started to blur together.

“Come on-” which one was this? Which one was green? “…kiddo, eat your-” what food was green? The letters squirmed around like worms. “Food. Eat your food. Please?”

But the green one kept his bill locked tighter than a money bin. On the floor, his brother… the red one tugged at Donald’s shirt. “Shh…” he said. He dropped his hand on the nephew’s head and slumped forward on the table.

Just a little shut eye, that’s all he needed. Just a little sleep before someone needed him again.

"Donal'?!" Donald blinked. He was hallucinating. Or he'd fallen asleep at the table and the dream was just very realistic until this moment.

Because José Carioca was in the Amazon with-

_Crash!_

"Panchito!" José chided. "You broke the window!"

"Well you took too long to pick the lock!" The rooster, who wasn't there, stuck his head, also not there, through the window. "Donald! Where have you been?! We heard- Ay, que lindo! José, mira!"

José, who only existed in a tropical paradise or smoke-filled night clubs, finished picking the lock and, impossibly, stepped into Donald's kitchen. His eyes flicked from Donald, to the toddlers around him, and back to Panchito tumbling through the window. "You broke a window on a baby!?"

Broken glass- Donald did a quick color count. Red, green- where was Blue?! He jolted awake. "Dewey!"

"Not on!" Panchito said, dusting himself off. "Near. And I'm sorry!" He scooped up the Duckling toddling toward him with a flourish. “Mi niño! ¿Cómo te vas? Soy Panchito! You are the cutest little boy I have ever seen!”

Dewey, whose lips had started to tremble when he saw two strangers standing over broken glass, now giggled at the sudden attention. _Like uncle like nephew,_ Donald thought.

José frowned and ran a gloved finger over the grimy counter. “Well, Donal’, I see you’ve been busy.”

Donald sighed. “You have no idea- wait! No, they’re not mine!”

Huey started to wail as Panchito gasped. “You kidnapped them?!” He clutched Dewey tightly to his chest.

“No! No!” Donald moaned. He dropped to his knees, trying to comfort Huey. Louie giggled and tossed his green goo at the ceiling. “They’re Della’s-” her name caught in his throat, “my sister’s kids.”

José and Panchito exchanged worried looks. “Donal’,” José softened. “You are obviously exhausted. You must rest. Panchito and I will clean up.”

“The boys-”

“We’ll watch them.” José put his arm around his shoulders and lead Donald below decks. Maybe Donald was too tired to resist. Maybe it was just nice to let someone else take care of things. Either way, he didn’t argue as his caballero tucked him into his hammock.

“Wake me if-”

“Do not worry, Meu Bem,” José kissed him, and Donald dissolved beneath it. “Just take your rest.”

Donald meant to thank him, or at least apologize. Instead, he fell asleep.

* * *

 

Donald woke up to silence. He blinked up, yawned and rolled over before panic set in. They were all dead! Dewey had toppled overboard or eaten rat poison and his brothers followed. Why had he encouraged them to crawl and feed themselves?!

He squawked and raced upstairs to find... the boys: safe, happy and clean. They were perfectly quiet except for a few giggles and happy chewing sounds.

"Olá, Donal'," José smiled from the stove. "Your kitchen was woefully understocked. Huey and I rectified the situation. The rice is almost ready, but the beef needs a few more minutes."

"Abagaga," Huey squealed from his high chair.

"Avocado," José corrected, giving him another slice.

Donald fell back against the wall. "You came?"

"Of course, we came!" Panchito's indignant tone was undercut by Dewey climbing on his head and Louie swinging from an arm. "You didn't talk to us for an entire year and the navy told us you quit?!"

"I didn't- I was honorably discharged! There's a difference!"

Panchito did not appreciate the difference. "Why?" His voice went hurt and Donald's stomach dropped. "What happened?"

Donald looked between Panchito and José, at his nephews' smiling faces. He pulled in his breath and held it for a ten count, like his anger management tapes recommended. What happened? Did he even know what happened? One day he’d had a sister with three eggs. Then she was gone, and he had three little lives depending on him.

“Can we not… talk about it yet? I’ll tell you, just- not yet.”

Panchito looked at José. José looked at Donald. “Okay,” he said. “When the boys go to sleep?”

Donald nodded. José put his ladle down and turned off the stove. He walked over and kissed Donald’s forehead. “You worried us, Pato.”

“I know,” Donald sank against him. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay!” Panchito lifted them both in a tight squeeze. “We’re here now. The three caballeros, together again.”

Donald nodded, unable to put any words together. José stepped back first, to check on the beef, but Panchito just latched onto Donald, gently petting his feathers and murmuring in Spanish. By the time he stepped back, Dewey had crawled off of his head and onto Donald’s. The boy giggled, pulling at his Uncle’s feathers with glee. Donald set him in his high chair with minimal fussing.

True to their word, Panchito and José didn’t press him about Della. Instead, they regaled him with their trip to Duckburg, the various people they’d met in the Amazon, joking and laughing as if it was nothing more than a casual visit. They each took responsibility for feeding one of the boys. José stuck with Huey, while Panchito allowed Louie to pick what he liked from his plate, wolfing down spicy food before the child could grab it. Donald managed to keep Dewey in his seat and eat something that didn’t come out of the microwave for the first time in months.

It felt… almost normal.

* * *

“She did what?!” Panchito gasped, even though Donald had just told him. They sat out on the deck, letting the boat rock the boys to sleep.

“Shh,” Donald glanced back at the house, “You’ll wake the boys!”

“Sorry,” Panchito said, and then whispered; “She did what?!”

“That’s the problem,” Donald sighed. “I don’t know what she did, or why, or what happened. She just left.”

“Has your uncle-?”

“I don’t wanna talk to Scrooge.” Donald crossed his arms, ignoring José’s took of concern. “This is all his fault.”

José and Panchito looked at each other, then at Donald. Silence sat heavy between them. “What?” Donald glared.

“Nothing.”

“Do you think you are blaming Scrooge because you do not wish to blame your sister?” José asked. Panchito turned slowly to stare at him in horror. José stood firm.

Donald sighed. “Maybe.” He glanced back at the cabin, where the boys slept. “I can’t be mad at her when she’s… gone.”

José nodded solemnly.

“I’m not not mad at Scrooge,” Donald insisted. “Just because I should be mad at Della.”

“But isn’t that kind of your default state? Being mad at Scrooge?”

“Because he’s a jerk!”

“Shh!” Said Panchito. He jerked his head to the cabin. They sat in tense silence, waiting for one of the boys to cry. After a few moments, he spoke again. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t matter?” Donald fought to keep his voice down.

Panchito shook his head. “Where ever your sister went, we have three little boys to take care of now. They’re what’s important now.”

“We?”

“Claro que sí,” Panchito said. José nodded.

Donald swallowed. “You don’t have to-”

José snorted. “Your normally charming stupidity has become wearying, Meu Bem. Do you think we came all the way to Duckburg on a rickety fishing boat because we did not wish to help you?”

Panchito leaned over and kissed Donald softly. “Through fair or stormy weather, Pato.”

Donald sighed. He felt like he’d been holding his breath for years. “The boat’s too small for four, let alone six.”

“Oh no, we may have to share a bed.” Panchito’s smile turned sly as he raised his eyebrows.

“There’s not a lot of money.”

“We have been broke before,” José inspected his feathers with airy detachment. “We will get jobs.”

Donald wanted to argue. He knew he should. The Caballeros belonged in warm jungles and dingy motels. The boys weren’t their responsibility. Their lives shouldn’t stop-

But they had come. Without being called, José and Panchito came and they wanted to stay.

And he did need the help.

“Okay,” Donald said. “Just for a few months.”

“As long as you need,” José said.

Panchito grinned and climbed onto Donald’s lap, snuggling close. Donald made an annoyed face but gently ruffled his feathers anyway. José reached over and took his other hand. They watched the stars go by over Duckburg.

 

**Author's Note:**

> The Caballeros are coming to DUCKTALES! To Joss all my head canons! Oh well, that's why we're here.  
> Please review!


End file.
